COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland gymnastics squad closes its 2009 regular season by playing host to a pair of home meets that could have major implications on the team's postseason aspirations.

The Terrapins face Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. Wednesday before welcoming No. 15 Penn State, No. 19 Arizona and Yale to the Comcast Center Pavilion at 4 p.m. Saturday for a regular season finale quad-meet. The first meet represents a rematch with a fellow East Atlantic Gymnastics League squad, and the second brings an eclectic mix of teams from three different conferences to College Park for the Terps' final tune-up prior to the EAGL Championships.

Both meets could go a long way toward determining if Maryland (11-7, 7-3 EAGL) will participate in the NCAA Regionals for the first time in five years. The Terps currently rank 34th in the nation with a team RQS of 194.450, and the top 36 teams ultimately will qualify for regional competition.

Maryland, which stands third in the EAGL, enjoyed one of its best team performances of the season during its first encounter with Pittsburgh on Feb. 13. The Terps posted their second best team score of the season and top mark in a road meet (194.650) to defeat the Panthers, as junior Brandi George claimed the all-around title, won on floor exercise and shared first place on uneven bars with sophomore Abbey Adams.

Saturday afternoon's quad-meet features two of the nation's top squads in the Nittany Lions and the Wildcats. All four teams will be competing in their final regular season meet prior to their respective league championships.

"We finish the regular season with two big-time meets against excellent competition," head coach Bob Nelligan said. "Both these meets are important for us, and we're hoping to finish on a strong note."

Saturday's meet represents the final regular season competition for Nelligan, who has stated his intentions to retire following the end of the 2009 season. The long-time coach currently has 489 career victories. His son, associate head coach Brett Nelligan, will assume head coaching duties following his retirement.

Both Wednesday's dual-meet and Saturday's quad-meet are free to the public. Saturday's competition will be streamed live over the Internet by ACC Select.

Last Time Out
Overcoming a tough start on vault, the Terrapins responded with strong performances in the ensuing three events to accumulate a team mark of 194.300, and secure second place behind North Carolina and ahead of Temple during last Friday's home tri-meet. That score enabled Maryland to improve its team RQS to 194.450, as the squad has now surpassed 194.000 in six of its last eight meets.

Maryland tallied a team score of 48.750 on uneven bars, as junior Candice King (9.800) and sophomore Kaitlin Joseph (9.775) established new career-best scores, with King placing second overall in the event. Sophomore Kelsey McDermid and junior Margaux Meeks both stuck their landings, enabling McDermid (9.725) to tie her career-high mark and Meeks (9.725) to equal her season-best score.

The beam rotation saw Maryland enjoy its season-best performance, notching a team score of 48.850. Junior Talia Tossone's season-high score (9.850) was good for second place and equaled the Terps' best individual score on beam this season. King (9.750) and freshman Becca Pang (9.775) added career-best marks on beam, and each of the team's six competitors scored 9.675 or better.

Sophomore Abbey Adams capped a strong team effort on floor exercise by concluding Friday's meet with one of the Terps' top individual performances of the season. Scoring a career-best 9.925 as the team's anchor, Adams claimed the individual title on floor and posted Maryland's best score in the event since 2004.

Scouting the Competition
• Pittsburgh is riding a two-meet win streak, having posted a score of 194.550 last Saturday to beat Utah State on the road. The Panthers rank sixth in the EAGL overall with a team RQS of 193.885 but stand second on balance beam (48.615 RQS). Junior Dani Bryan and senior Alix Croop rank second and tied for fourth in the league on vault and uneven bars, respectively.
• Arizona, which boasts the 19th-best team RQS in the nation (195.140), has been victorious in five consecutive meets. The Pac-10 Conference representative has been ranked among the top-25 teams in the nation throughout the season. Wildcats' junior Sarah Tomczyk is tied for 31st in the nation on floor exercise (9.865).
• Penn State is coming off a 196.225-195.925 victory at EAGL-leading West Virginia last Sunday. The Nittany Lions, members of the Big Ten Conference, currently stand 15th nationally with a team RQS of 195.560. Junior Brandi Personett ranks among the nation's top-10 on both vault and floor exercise, having compiled an all-around RQS good for 21st in the country (39.255).
• Yale has a team RQS of 183.800 and has been at its best this season on balance beam and floor exercise. A member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the Bulldogs boast a roster with three all-around competitors - seniors Sarah Hughes and Alina Liao and junior Allison Mak.

Series History
Maryland's Feb. 13 dual-meet victory over Pittsburgh enabled the Terps to increase their slight edge in their all-time series with the Panthers to 19-17. Maryland has experienced a great deal of success historically versus Yale (8-1), but has not fared as well against Arizona (0-4) and Penn State (1-8).

National Rankings
The Terps currently rank among the nation's top-36 teams in all four events, coming in at 30th on uneven bars (48.695 RQS), 31st on balance beam (48.470 RQS), 32nd on floor exercise (48.795) and 36th on vault (48.720). Individually, five Maryland gymnasts rank among the top-100 in the country in at least one event. Brandi George ranks 45th on all-around (39.055 RQS), tied for 59th on balance beam (9.815) and tied for 87th on uneven bars (9.795). Abbey Adams stands tied for 54th on floor exercise (9.840), 66th on all-around (38.800), tied for 77th on uneven bars (9.805) and tied for 99th on vault (9.805). Talia Tossone ranks tied for 73rd on balance beam (9.795), Michele Brenner stands tied for 93rd on floor exercise (9.805) and Kyra Phillips is tied for 99th on vault (9.805).

Did You Know
Abbey Adams' first-place floor exercise score of 9.925 during last Friday's meet versus North Carolina and Temple tied for the 17th-best individual mark in the event in the program's 34-year history. Only three former Terrapin gymnasts (Jill Fisher, Gillian Cote and Rachel Martinez) have scored higher on floor exercise.

Up Next
Following its pair of home meets this week, Maryland heads to the 14th annual EAGL Championships in Raleigh, N.C. The eight-team league meet takes place at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 21, in NC State's Reynolds Coliseum.